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Foreign properties

HMRC have announced the establishment of a new team to identify individuals who own land and property abroad. It sounds a bit intrusive but it is really no more than common sense. If you have bought a property abroad, HMRC will always want to enquire where you got the money if such a purchase would be inconsistent with their knowledge of your financial resources. Furthermore, a foreign property may give rise to rental income and there may be foreign bank accounts which could be the source of income or capital gains.

However, HMRC make it sound much more sinister with their references to a newly formed team who will use “new and innovative risk assessment techniques" and "sophisticated data mining techniques". Maybe they are just trying to get their message across.